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THE DREAM-GOD,

A SINGULAR EVOLYEMENT

THOUGHT IN SLEEP

BY JOHN CUNINGHAM.

CD

: Jr

NEW YOKK: .;

PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR BY

ANDERSON & RAMSAY.

28 Frankfort Street.

73.

75 tf*T*
C

m

Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1873, by

JOHN CUNINGHAM,
In the office of the librarian of Congress at Washington.

/fib

TO MY FRIENDS.

Although requested by a number of you at vari-
ous times to write this condensed narrative of an
event in my life, associated with much misfortune,
sadness and suffering which have continued for
some years, it was not until during a lonely period
of quietude at Brooklyn, JSf. Y., in the summer of
1872, that I made the effort I do not expect the
public to give much credence or interest to the mat-
ter, but to you who know me I can trustingly give
the assurance that this little book is an unaffected
and truthful production. It is published as an
affectionate memorial to you of mutual esteem and
friendship.

Apeil, 1873.

JOHN CUNINGHAM,

of So. Ga.

A SINGULAR EVOLVEMENT OF
THOUGHT IN SLEEP.

A REMARKABLE DREAM.

The peculiar and startling* effect of mor-
phine on a person unaccustomed to its admin-
istration, was happily illustrated in the in-
stance of a gentleman to whom, under its in-
fluence, (about three eighths of a grain,) the
dream to be related occurred. This individu-
al, (a South Carolinian resident on a planta-
tion,) a few years ago, had lately received a
severe and extensive burn, which confined him
to his bed six months. An allusion by him in
a casual conversation in the city of New York
recently to the eventful dream and its circum-
stances, brought out a solicitation to him to
write its narrative, which in substance he here
gives.

6 A Bemarkable Dream,

One evening in midwinter, a few weeks af-
ter the accident, the almost exhausted sufferer,
having taken the prescribed nightly dose of
morphine, fell asleep.

THE DREAM -GOD.

PART I.

The sleep was serene, the mind active, and
the dream promptly and vividly supervened.
A being in the form of a handsome and ma-
tured man, full of esprit, in a white and easy-
fitting garment, with bright, broad and sweep-
ing wings coming out from each side of his
back below the shoulders, appeared to the pa-
tient at his bedside, and announced to him
that he was the Spirit of Morphine, of a hea-
venly and immortal nature, and that he had
come to carry him on an aerial voyage over
many parts of the world-, to show him many
attractive regions and things, to introduce him
to various races, royal personages, distin-
guished celebrities, etc.

The sleeper with surprise inquired, "How
can I go with this stricken and impotent
body?"

8 The Dream- God.

The Immortal replied, "You must leave
your body here ; your spiritual being can ac-
company me."

Sleeper. — " But I fear that before my re-
turn my friends may see and regard my inan-
imate body as dead, and bury it."

Immortal.— ■" Fear not. I will restore you
in due time to your body ; and I will prepare
you for our adventures as I am prepared."

Thus assured, the somnipathist crept gently
out, headway, from his " mortal coil," glided
over the headboard of his bedstead, glanced
back upon his sleeping frame in his very im-
age, then sprang lithely to the sill of the win-
dow, where the sash had already been thrown
up by the Morpheus, and finding himself
equipped with needed dress and wings, soared
with his companion into the air.

Immortal. — "What route do you prefer?"

Mortal. — " I wish to have a birdseye view
of Charleston, (once my home,) by gas-light
and then toward the Arctic Pole."

The aerial voyagears were, as if in a mo-
ment, hovering in a slow, scrutinizing flight
over Charleston, with stars above, and looking
as upon stars below ; and in front, athwart the
ocean, a long line of light, gleaming from a
newly -risen moon, invited their quickened pin-

The Dream- God. 9

ions into the illimitable spaces over the far-
bounded deep. Curving in a wide ocean-
sweep northward, and moving with lightning-
speed, they perceived, although having a full
sense of comfort, varying currents of icy gales
and warm breezes ; and from their transparent
height saw beneath them the dark, girdling
strata of cyclone hurricanes, or sheeny, swathe-
clouds of crystal congelations ; or, within their
extended girdles, broad, oval areas of clear-
rolling sea, and far down, by a peculiar dim
lighting of its depths, the plains, hills and
vales it immersed, and the myriad tribes of the
deep in their amazing animate forms.

Mortal. — " I would see the borealis."

Immortal. — " You shall, anon."

The dream seemed to change. The parties
suddenly found themselves lying in open sea-
shells, structured to their lengths and sizes,
floating side by side on a tranquil waste of
waters, feet foremost, heads pillowed, and eyes
bent upward and northward. A lowered and
murky sky appeared as a dun-colored ceilin ,
of little height above them ; and they were
thoughtful, and in low tones they occasionally
uttered weird thoughts on life — mankind —
earth — God. A drowsy moment ensues. Then
slowly lifts the gloomy canopy, and along the

10 The Bream- God.

distant northern horizon, the fog having rapid-
ly disappeared, a lengthened arc of whitish
light spans itself. The heavens are again
clear. From the bright arc dart upward along
their northern hemisphere radiant streams of
every lighter hue, and in incessant changeful
brilliancy— a panoramic spread of incanescent
splendors. A whirl of cold, shimmering light
dashes around and over towering icebergs, and
amazes the eye. It closes, and when again it
opens, the Arctic travellers find themselves
soaring aloft, and they look upon an open,
calm, unfrozen polar sea,* The Spirit of
Morphine remarks : " You now see, and will
see, things unknown to man. This compara-
tive warmth comes from the fire and glowing
heat in the bowels of the earth, as you will
soon ascertain."

They move on ; they are at the Pole ; the
north star is in the zenith. A magnetic nee-
dle appears hanging in mid-air, like the vis-
ioned dagger before Macbeth, and dips south-
ward and westward toward the other— the
magnetic— pole, degrees away. A glare dis-
turbs the eye, and terrible sounds surround

* This sea was then unknown to the dreamer. His dream re-
vealed to him its existence. He thought it a delusion, until he
heard of its discovery.

The Dream- God. 11

them. Behold ! the Pole is a large cylindrical
aperture (miles in diameter) in our globe, down
through which are seen the molten mass and
fiery flame within the crust of earth ! The
watery billows, like a whirlpool, surge in loud
roar around its circumferent shore, but enter
not ; and a column of heat ever rushes on the
Arctic air.

A cry of terror and awe escapes from the
sleeper. He is conscious of it, but does not
awake. The dream resumes.

They are now flying southward, and the
somnipathist has a vision (a dream in this
dream) of a midsummer circling sun shining
a day of months. They view the peculiarities
of Iceland, examine the maelstrom, (that sin-
gular natural wonder, gurgitating into another
earth-aperture, off Norway,) and comprehend
by a glance Lapland, Norway and Sweden,
their curiosities, peoples, customs, etc. There
is not time or space for details. They are en
voyage for the Court of Russia.

They alight at the Winter Palace of the Czar.

The Immortal with his pupil enters with
free and commanding port — obstructions van-
ish. A festive scene of splendor — gayety,
glitter and ceremony commingled — is at its
height. Through the maze of an amazed,

12 The Dream- God.

gorgeous, throng, they advance to the Emper-
or, surrounded by rank and beauty ; and
through the influence of a celestial majesty
more enthralling than his own, they secure his
deferential and cordial attention. Then follows
a confused but charming association with
" beautiful women and brave men," amid all
social bewitcheries.

The scene changes. They are seated in a
small ice-crystal*sa/cw, glistening on all sides
except the carpeted floor, with the Emperor
and his prime minister alone, all exhilarant
with wine, and now sipping the potent subtle-
ty of China's most famed and fragrant tea,
priced at its weight in gold. The philosophy
of government, from a republican standpoint,
rushes upon the soul of the American, and he
exclaims to the mighty potentate of all the
Eussias :

" How can your humanity conscientiously
hold and wield the power of imperial despot-
ism p

Emperor. — " The one-man power in the
light and dignity of a principle, appeals to
reason and fascinates the soul. It is the true

* This refers to the once famous palace, built of blocks of ice,
in St. Petersburg.

The Dream -God. 13

theory of human government. I am God's
vicegerent, as king and priest, for the well-be-
ing and good order of my people."

Prime Minister. — "This system derives its
type from the One-God control of the uni-
verse. It has divinity from above, it has pa-
triarchal sanction here below. It can bear
comparison with its opposite extreme in abso-
lutism— a pure democracy, the mere many-
power, unrestrained, unregulated and unin-
structed. What is more irresponsible, more
selfishly callous, more heedlessly unstable,
and more grinding than the vulgar tyranny of
a bare popular majority ? Extremes meet and
have a singular affinity ; it is the secret of the
growing friendship between Russia and the
United States."

American. — " Ha ! Our American people
are not a mass democracy. The United
States are republics federated under a Consti-
tution— a system which excludes both your
extremes."

Prime Minister. — " Indeed !"

Immortal. — " There is a golden mean for all
finite governments. Uncontrolled power is
only for the Infinite."

Emperor. — " Is even political self-govern-
ment a right fn

14 The Dream-God.

American. — " Surely mankind is entitled to
it and should possess it."

Immortal. — " No ! Self-government is the
eventual prize of intelligence and virtue. The
ignorant or vicious are incapable of it. In the
meantime, it is the privilege of the human race
to secure it by attempered wisdom, and to
guard it against the passions and ignorance of
the many, the few, or the one. Goodness in
the use of power, more than the form of gov-
ernment, is the great desideratum. Seek most
to elevate the mind and heart of man !"

American to Emperor. — " Sire ! it is then
your best mission to do well your part /"

- PART II.

Farewells are spoken. The voyageurs are
again a-wing. They reach the Arctic along
the vast Siberian coast. There the cold is
most intense, and of the frozen regions it is
the wildest and grandest. A shimmering light
seems to permeate it ever, even in its darkest
periods. The ice presents plains, abysses,
mountains. Everywhere are the debris of
long-frozen animals. Over its dry waste of
congealed waters, the fierce blasts, as if by
frictional action on its rugged surfaces, ever
generate electrical phenomena. In midwinter
and darkness, scintillating flashes gleam along
them in the nether air. Such was their vision.

The disembodied, as one startled, exclaims :
" See yon iceberg like a mountain of glass.
What is that within it ? It resembles the car-
cass of a dead animal, but it is too huge. It
is at least sixty feet long, and of elephantine
proportions."

16 The Dream- God.

Immortal. — " It is an ancient specimen of
the behemoth (B'Hemoth) tribes. Its species
is extinct. Its bulk is many times that of the
mastodon. Its massive ivory tusks are similar
to those of the walrus. Its remains have been
frozen in there for thousands of years. Pu-
trescence is here unknown."

Mortal. — " What wonders ! Can this be na-
ture V

Immortal. — " We are approaching others."

Mortal.—1' Yes, look ! What a vast lizard
or crocodile yonder encased — five hundred
feet long ! But I see fins, also."

Immortal. — " It is of the primeval species of
sauroid fish. It has been frozen during cycles
of time. This region was once warmer. Na-
ture's changeful developments are a curious
mystery to man, but it ever unfolds in increas-
ing knowledge."

They wheel southward — anon traverse Chi-
nese Tartary — sweep over the Chinese wall,
and alight in Pekin. They poise themselves
on a lofty pagoda.

Mortal. — " These Chinese are a mysterious
people. I am curious about them. That
wall was a great enterprise in its day, and a
singular one."

Immortal. — " They are a swarm from an an-

The Dream- God. 17

cient human hive, and have long been numer-
ous and astute. They have been, and are su-
perior to the average of mankind, but inferior
to the more illumined and most cultivated.
Their numbers and limited geographic sphere
have made them feel want ; yet their inven-
tions, although multiplied, have been petty,
fanciful, crude and clumsy contrivances to
meet emergency, in comparison with the
grander discoveries and more studied and
beautiful designs of other and higher civiliza-
tions. Necessity has stimulated their cunning,
but precludes their reflection ; it has pinched
their faculties, as the t iron shoe ' has their
feet. Their mental contraction has been ren-
dered more compressive by their moral and
spiritual defects. They have had no concep-
tion of a God, per se. It is the conception
which most expands man !"

Mortal. — " But this pagoda (truly it is a gro-
tesque structure !) is a temple devoted to some
worship."

Immortal. — " It is a fane of the merest
idolatry, and dedicated to idols, ' of the earth,
earthly,' not to any images which are even ty-
pical of divine essences. But of this, anon."

Mortal. — " The Chinese have, however, a
demi-god — their * Celestial Emperor.' "

18 The Dream- God.

Immortal. — " Yes, lie is their immediate au-
thority, temporal and spiritual. Yet he and
his mandarins, alike with his subjects, are con-
strained, by the dominancy of twenty-four
centuries of veneration for the great Chinese
philosopher and moralist, Koong-Foo-tse, (la-
tinized, Confucius,) to worship in the temples
dedicated to that extraordinary statesman and
expounder. This pagoda is one of these tem-
ples, which have been reared in all chief cities
and towns. His i nine books ' constitute the
creed and code — the bible — of the i Celestial
Empire/ and you will deem it a singular fact
that they contain no mention of a Creator —
no allusion to Grod."

Mortal. — " It is indeed strange for so intel-
ligent a people. All other peoples have some
kind of a belief and worship of a Supreme
Being. Hark ! I hear sounds from below —
I hear chants !"

Immortal. — " Yes, they are from the Em-
peror and his court, performing idol-service,
offering fruits, wines, flowers and fancy arti-
cles, and now singing chants. We will witness
their return to the palace, and then visit them."

Soon the vision embraced a scene of Orien-
tal pomp— a pageant, with its ceremonies, gor-
geous displays and vain-glorious crudities.

The Dream-God. 19

This narrative must dispense with the de-
scription, nor could the reader be made to re-
ceive the impression produced on the visitor
from the West, while gazing on the dramas
of the East.

His Celestial Majesty—" brother of the sun
and cousin of the stars " — is now enthroned in
his extended residence, amid princely persons,
political potentates and priestly dignitaries,
surrounded by every burnishment and ad-
ministered to by varied flattery and all servil-
ity. The voyageurs suddenly appear before
and among them.

Emperor. — " Ha ! what means this intru-
sion ? Chamberlain of the Palace, accursed
Mandarin ! you shall lose your life for this.
How came these persons into the Celestial
Presence without permission and the salaam
reverences ? Hold ! they have wings ! Can
they be Celestial ? Spirit of Koong-Foo-tse !
come, protect, guard us ! Let all the great
gongs be beaten ! let dreadful sounds frighten
them away !"

The Immortal, with a gesture, awes all into
silence and composure.

American to Emperor. — " Man, what mean
these presumptions % What does your ridi-
culous and despotic power claim f

20 The Dream- God.

Emperor. — "Not read the ' Books V Read
thein. My power is immemorial and supreme.
Yang and Yn, time and Koong-Foo-ste. have
founded it — yes, founded it on the analogy of
parental authority, which they declare absolute.
The nation is my family, and I am its father.
I am sole entitled ruler, and I am — holy and
sacred ! Nor will I have contact with strangers
and barbarians."

American. — " What means he ? What of
Confucius?"

Immortal. — " Confucius was a Chinaman,
who lived 550 years before Christ, He was a
teacher of morals, rather than a founder of re-
ligion. For those dark ages, he was an extra-
ordinary man ; he was great as a philosopher,
a moralist and a statesman. ■ He made no pre-
tence to inspiration. He inculcated the train-
ing of the physical system. The five elements,
fire, water, wood, metal and earth (he called
them Kings) were the basis of his system of
philosophy. He maintained that the universe
was generated by the union of two material prin-
ciples— a heavenly and an earthly — Yang and
Yn — but there is no mention of a Creator in
his system. Man, he asserted, fell from purity
and happiness by his own act ; and by his own
act he can or must recover them. His politi-

The Dream-God. 21

cal system, which is one of pure despotism,
has been give by the Emperor. Spirit of Koong-
Foo-ste, come forth !"

The apparition of Confucius here takes visi-
ble shape, and startles the assembly. The
other or American immaterialized human, ad-
dresses him :

" Confucius, thy soul has now learned wis-
dom. How is it, that in life your great reason
did not perceive and conceive that there must
be and was a Being, all wise, all powerful, all
good, eternal, and with His infinity universal-
ly present — the God and Creator V '

Confucius. — " I had no revelation!11

Immortal. — " Creation itself suggests and
proves a Creator ; it is His greatest revelation.
The dual-elements in man (mind and matter,)
should recognize His existence and essence."

Confucius. — " I dimly perceived that there
were two principles, but not precisely those of
good and evil. I did not reason sufficiently at
large. I thought only of earth, not of religion ; of
the material, not the divine. Zoroaster surpassed
me in these regards."

American. — '; Emperor, the hand- writing of
destroying Fate is on your wall. The hands
of hundred of million% will pull it clown. God
will send light, by the invading influence of

22 The Dream- God.

the ' outside barbarians ' of the far West, to
scatter the darkness from your land. Your
dynasty is doomed."

The spectre of Confucius nods confirmation,
and disappears.

The voyageurs pass out, and soar into the
air.

Intense cimmerian darkness now seems to
prevail everywhere, and the aerialists see
themselves, as it were from a distance, flying
as illumined transparent shapes through it.
Afar off, and in another land, there is seen a
small luminous spot on the horizon.

" What is yon bright object VJ

" It is the < Temple of the Sun.' "

The speed of thought brings them to its full
view. They swoop down ; and pause in riv-
eted contemplation of the sublime pile.

What a house, built by supposed hands !
It is a structure from masses of the purest
crystal ; a mile long ; two-thirds of a mile
broad ; a half-mile high to its eaves. A
steeple, itself of a mile's height and of beauti-
ful proportions, towers with a superb aplomb
a mile and a half above its front base. It is
radiant with a whitish internal illumination,
that shoots its apex of light upward to the
dark empyrean. Over a central point of the

The Dream-God. 23

temple, a third distance from its rear, a lofty
dome uplifts in grand majesty its imposing
symmetry, and from which hangs pendent
within, a vast globular light resembling and
sacred to the sun, permeating and illuming
with its golden rays the mighty mass. The
double-tinted splendor of the tout ensemble,
thrilled with rapture even an immortal soul !
Above the dome, and from a staff like the light-
ning's streak, floated a tri-colored oriflamme —
a rainbow flag.

" One tint was of the sunbeam's dyes,
" One the blue depth of seraph's eyes,
" One, the pure spirit's veil of white
" Had robed in radiance of its light;
" The three so mingled did beseem
" The texture of a heavenly dream."

The occasion is a holy period to a people
in southern Asia, of whom tens of thousands
throng the columned interior. The flying
visitors enter. Their eyes are instantly attract-
ed upward to the high- vaulted ceiling, appear-
ing like a slightly concaved sky, and of a
deep cerulean hue, studded with stars (mystic
phenomenon !) as if in deference to night.

In the centre of the vast tessellated floor is a
colossal opalescent human statue, typical of
and dedicated to the God of Light, seated on
a purple throne bordered with plates of gold —

24 The Dream-God.

the whole eight hundred feet high, and the
figure in a commanding attitude, and as dis-
pensing wisdom and exacting reverence. A
space around it is paled by a balustrade of
sapphire. Behind it, on the wall to the East,
is pictured in marvellous glory the rising sun.
In its front, outside the sapphire enclosure and
toward an entrance in the West, is a broad low
altar of polished granite. On it are piled vo-
tive offerings of flowers- — creatures of the sun.

Emblematic frescoes of light in varying
hues, play over and adorn every portion of
the wondrous edifice.

The countless throng pressing from many
entrances, with faces turned upward to the
Idol, and with odorless flambeaux aloft intheii
right hands, chanted,

" Fire ! Genial Fire ! Glorious Fire !

Element of light! Hail, Father Sun!"

The flying companions had already taken
their station in the space reserved around the
Colossus, and near his feet.

Immortal. — " This has degenerated into Fire
Worship — another form of Materialism. The
wretches adore the emblems, but know not
their meaning. Silence ! Attention !!"

The people in awe put their left hands over
then* eyes, and kneel with bowed heads. All

The Bream-God. 25

the lights, large and small, become dim and
wan ; an ominous twilight prevails.

Immortal. — " Zoroaster, in the name of Light
appear !"

The apparition of Zoroaster stands before
them.

Immaterialized American. — " I have heard of
him, but what of him?"

Immortal. — " Zoroaster or Zurdusht was a
great thinker, who lived in primeval times ;
computed by Aristotle to be about six thousand
years before the death of Plato. He was born
in ancient Bactria. He was the founder of the
Magian religion, which prevailed long before
the Medo-Persian monarchy. His doctrines are
set forth in the book called Zendavesta. The
first being (according to that transcript) is deno-
minated ' Time without bounds ;' thus show-
ing on the part of Zurdusht a vague percep-
tion of the Eternal One. His creed maintains
that from the operation of this ' infinite Time,'
the two active principles of the universe were
produced from all eternity, Ormuzd (represent-
ing <700<#) and Ahriman, (representing evil,) each
disposed to exercise his powers of creation in
different ways. The first formed man capable
of virtue ; the latter, changed into darkness
from light, introduced evil."

26 The Bream- God.

"Zurdusht taught that, at the last day,
Ormuzd would triumph."

American. — " I see. Zoroaster compared the
two principles to Light and Darkness, and to
each attributed creative power. And now that
I reflect, I note that dual elements of some
kind, material or spiritual, and associated with
the idea of good and evil, are averred in most
religious creeds. It is the great mystery !"

Immortal. — " Zurdusht, speak !"

Zoroaster. — " Death further opened my finite
eyes. There are not two discordant essences nor
two creative powers. The One God is the
One Creator. He alone can solve the inscruta-
bility of Evil."

The lights die out. Sounds cease. The
temple disappears. Utter darkness ensues. A
sudden murmured exclamation of wonder arises
from countless beings, enshrouded in the night.
The Heavens above have opened ; an amazing
glory of radiance shines through them, amid
which " the great White Throne" and " He
who sitteth thereon" are seen, and His resound-
ing voice utters to the Universe : I am the
Light !

PART III.

This dream had one feature in common with
ordinary dreams ; parts of it were confused and
fitful. But its unusual length and coherence
were remarkable- It consisted of a series of
vivid scenes and singular events in conformity
with its general character and design. These
were announced (a notable fact) in its outset,
and sustained throughout (still more strange)
in their appropriate relations.

The aerial voyagews took a general view of
the Ganges audits deltas. They paused to
observe a Hindoo 'maiden, of the better caste,
launch upon its waters, in her amative super-
stition, one of those small lights, votive to love
and imagination, which floating down the
stream would by its course, accidents and fate,
indicate what might be the chequered destiny
of her affections, or the fortunes of an absent
lover. And they noticed her as a specimen of
the delicate symmetry of form and sentient
beauty of face, characteristic of southern Asia-

28 The Dream- God.

tic females. The dreamy expression of soul
on her countenance enthralled the American.
For a time he was human.

Geographical details but seldom attracted
their attention. Their general consciousness was
that of travelling at night ; yet there was ever
light enough when and where it was desired.
The American conceived the mortal wish to
view a scene from the highest mountains in
the world. They were near the Himmalayas,
and flew to their most commanding peak. It
appeared to be a bright day, and all the sen-
sations of sublime awe and admiration which
a man could feel under such circumstances
were realized. This experience was entirely
distinct from any impressions produced during
their usual aerial observations. The landscape
seemed to comprise every variety of object,
from the grandest and most startling, to the
softest and most serene, and a delicious mel-
lowing sublimated the enchantment.

Now, anon, they are looking down upon
the Euphrates and the Tigris, and the classic
slip of land between them. And in another
moment a twilight envelopes them, a contem-
plative mood ensues ; and, then, steals upon
their consciousness the knowledge, inducing a
singular awe or uneasiness, that they are hover-

The Dream- God. 29

ing over the Plain of Shinar. The biblical
Babel, the confusion of tongues and the scat-
tering of the nations crowd upon their reflec-
tion, and again immortal thoughts arise.

The disembodied remarks, "It is written
that a drama occurred below, which, it appears
to me, is as mysterious in its meaning as it is
wonderful in its happening. The Divine frus-
tration of the building of the Tower of Babel,
as a rebuke to the presumption of man, in the
light of an allegory, finds analogies in every
day life. But, as a fact, it is classed among the
miraculous. Which is it I The unity or variety
of origin of the human race is a vexed ques-
tion ; and man's distinctiveness from other
animals, especially in the characteristics of
reason and immortality, may be regarded an-
other. It has occurred to me that attributing
the i confusion of tongues ' to the miraculous,
may have been but an ancient priestly, as well
as theoretic, pretext in favor of the doctrine
of the unity of the human race. The Babel
statement is a strange story of God's ways."

Immortal. — " Even to immortals, God's de-
signs are not revealed, and in many respects
His ways are inscrutable. The past may de-
clare His nature, but never wholly His pur-
poses. The Future is His own. But as His

30 The Bream-God.

laws are unchangeable, inferences may be
drawn by any being in proportion to his facul-
ties and knowledge. Their gradations are as
numerous as the stars. Nor is it permitted to
me to declare to you in your mortal status, all
I know in my immortal status. But the unity
or variety of human origin is of no present
importance. The differences of the human
races, in language, color and structure, give
assurance against their amalgamation and
homogeneity on earth."

The dream assumes a new phase. In a
grand hall, of shadowy sides, suspended in
mid-air, the parties recline in voluptuous chairs.

It is as if fitted for exhibitions. A moving
superb panorama passes before them, repre-
senting in their greatest glory, the following
cities : Babylon, Nineveh, Thebes, Troy, Tyre,
Jerusalem, Bagdad, Alexandria and Damas-
cus. They alike saw them and seemed to be
in them. It was a curious, instructive and
wondrous display. A reverse movement of
the picture then presented these cities or their
sites as they are now. Their inhabitants at
the different periods, in varied masses and
actions, and male and female in every style
and hue of Eastern costume and countenance,
created a strange and absorbing interest. The

The Dream- God. 31

kaleidoscopic phases of human nature will ever
challenge curiosity, excite observation and en-
gender thoughts. The desire " to see and be
seen " by our kind, has a more suggestive and
philosophical source than mere vanity.

The winged adventurers of a night recross
from Asia to Europe, traverse the famed
Bosphorus, and reaching Constantinople, alight
for a moment, each on a minaret of Hie mosque,
(formerly church of St. Sophia,) the grandest
temple to Mahomet and of the Turks. The
view was grand, novel and crowded with ob-
jects and memorials. It was the most noted
point on the line between the East and the
West, and there were the remembrances and
insignia of both. These philosophic observers
had carefully noticed, of late, the influences
and traces of men and events, systems and
creeds, times and powers, from Alexander the
Great, in his primary institution of commerce
and in its mighty effects, down to the condi-
tion produced by the late struggle by Turkey,
France and England on one side, against the
aggressions of Russia and Northern hordes on
the other.

With their usual facility they next visit the
palace of the Sultan. Their presence surprised,
but its character was deferred to and welcomed.

32 The Dream- Q-od.

Turkish hospitality and courtesy are genial,
when once enlisted. The Grand Vizier him-
self directed their entertainment near the per-
son of his Majesty of the Crescent. In a stoical
manner, but with liberal temper, they discussed
with the guests matters of religion, govern-
ment, social customs, moral subtleties and
modern developments and tendencies. The
preconceived ideas and prejudices of the Ameri-
can were greatly modified. The former Turk
and Mohammedan of haughty bigotry, fierce-
ness and the sword, had subsided into toler-
ance for the Christian, amity with the Euro-
pean, and deference to the civilization, learning
and powers of the Caucasian race. Once the
chief guardian and lookout on the ramparts
of the ignorance, despotism and superstitions of
the East, he now would open its portals to the
more active spirit and mightier enlightenment
of the West. All this was elicited and defined
in the harmonious discussions that interluded
the ceremonial observances.

The suite of apartments allotted to females
in the larger dwelling-houses . of the East
(called the Harem) is a portion sacred to them
and the head of the family, and forbidden to
other masculine intrusion. But, for the
winged spirits, there was no objection to their

The Bream- God. 33

admittance to even the imperial Seraglio. Upon
the invitation of the Sultan, who led the way,
they retired with him into the delicious abode
of the Sultanas and lady favorites of that
mysterious Court. Here for the first time
gallantry so inspired the American that he
bowed, kneeled— yes, salaam- ed ! This choice
collection of beautiful women, selected from
beauties of different climes, and from races of
the higher types, presented every species of
female loveliness in form, feature and complex-
ion. The Circassian prevailed in numbers and
attractions.

A golden-haired blonde from the North, with
seraphic blue eyes and lily skin, robust yet
lithe and sprightly, was evidently the favorite
of the Sultan. But in contrast with her style,
yet equal in subtle fascination, reclined upon a
divan in more haughty retiracy a tropical being,
(a near relative of the Sultan,) in whose hair
was the sheeny darkness of a thousand starry
nights, on whose brunette cheek was the rose's
richest red, and whose flashing black eyes and
queenly figure were now in dreamy repose.
I3ut they grew animated on the entrance and
in the presence of the party ; and during their
stay and devoirs, her look often rested on the
American, "and ayes looked" affinity "to eyes

34 The Bream- God

that spoke again." He became enthralled. His
imagination conjectured in her the contrarient
higher qualities of a Seniiramis, a Cleopatra
and a Zenobia. She filled it I

At an appropriate time, eunuchs from among
the number in attendance, conducted the
guests to private apartments. The American
dreamed he slept and had a vision.

The warm radiance of Zulika's black eyes
still thrill his soul with a loving passion.
Mahomet, too, was associated with her in his
thoughts. He calls upon him to come and
take him among the celestial Houris — "the
beautiful eyed — the black eyed." The appari-
tion of Mahomet is suddenly seen ; it some-
what startles, yet, also, composes his other ex-
citement

Mahomet. — u Brother disembodied! You aro
still human in your thoughts. Death alone^
can free you from them. Yet I know them: ; it-
is permitted to me now to learn what transpires in?
the universe. It is also vouchsafed to, you, in<
your immaterialized state, to hold converse with,
the departed spirits, yes, even the: Houris, as,
you request. Among other matters; you wonder
at the apparently inconsistent decrees I made-
in regard to wine and women^ for my follow-
ers on earth. The inhibition; of wine was forr

The Dream-God, 35

the masses, who are largely composed of the
inconsiderate and craving. Its use will induce
the habit and disease of intoxication, which is
fatal to mankind, especially in warm climates.
Temperance should ever be a moral duty, and
abstinence alone can secure it among the
many. ' The joys of wine ' are only for the
prudent and thoughtful, and its healthful
quality for the ill. It has its proper uses."

Disembodied.— ■" In this regard you were
right, as an expounder."

Mahomet— "In permitting polygamy and
even concubinage to some, I reflected that as
marriage would not be suitable or convenient
or possible to a number of men, I would be
making a needful, wise and saving provision
for surplus women. The deprivation of wine,
too, rendered it more salutary ; man will have
one, and if he can, both. My system was,
also, designed to diminish promiscuous pro-
stitution."

Disembodied.—" Clever excuse! But how
will you defend the propagation of your creed
by the sword?"

Mahomet.—" Mankind, so generally stolid
or perverse in untoward ignorance or selfish-
ness, will usually require more or less coercion
in some shape, to be arousedinto useful anima-

36 The Bream-God.

tion and effort, and to the pursuit of good and
happiness. The sword, like necessity, stimu-
lates ; it is at times a great vivifier. It is even,
occasionally, justice on a large and peculiar
scale ; it is for man and nations, what the rod
is for the child."

Disembodied. — " Clever pretext, again ! But
you seem noiv to think that you were a better
giver of law than of religion- "

Mahomet — " I was not a Prophet. I was
right in but one religious dogma : the declara-
tion of the one God. And of Him, man is to
himself the most direct and proximate revela-
tion. Know thyself! It is both duty and in-
struction. Come ! sister spirits would confer
with thee."

Disembodied American, — u But, oh, I would
see more of her whom I met to-night."

Mahomet. — " She is your affinity ; and when
you are both freed from the earthly, you will
abide together on some Olympus in the Illim-
itable. Let us to the Seventh Heaven !"

They sweep upward and onward, and on
their passage see a vast and bright globe, (a
star or sun,) many times larger than the Earth.
There they see the souls of the most ignorant
and obtuse of the dead, in their second stage
of existence or ordeal of improvement. It is

The Bream-God. 37

the first Heaven. They proceed on by other
worlds — all abodes of Spiritual Progression,
and arrive at the seventh Heaven.

Mahomet — " The more favored and self-
elevating of Earth when they die, are at once
transferred to the sphere most suited to them
— some few even reaching the sixth Heaven,
at the outset upon eternity. The seventh
Heaven is the first abode of achieved Goodness
and translucent Eeason in the initial state of
perfection, After and beyond that, these be-
come identical with Knowledge, which I be-
lieve is eternally acquisitive and expansive.
Here is my attainment through centuries. I
began my after- death career in the third
Heaven. Zoroaster his in the fourth. Con-
fucius was permitted to pass the first, because
of his great mind and good intent ; but he was
assigned to the second to learn there was a
God and a Creator. Your travelling compan-
ion, who was never mortal, is beyond me, and
I know not his origin. Here I will show you
the most glorified women, who have come
originally from earth."

On the globe at which they had arrived,
there was, as on Earth, all variety of its own
kinds or peculiarities.

The disembodied American was soon thrown

38 The Dream- God.

into social intercourse. The inhabitants ap-
peared to have the human form glorified —
called " the image of Grod." Here there was
ideal beauty, infinitely varied like the flowers
of earth. The females were of heavenly and
indescribable loveliness. Their countenances
beamed with sublimated purity and affection.
They thronged around him as " administering
angels." Their sweet voices accompanied the
music of the spheres, and their swelling chorus
joined the song of the morning stars, in the
eternal anthem to the Most High.

Heavenly Houri. — "Mortal ! Know that thy
thought is vain, that the passions of the body
— of the earth — are here in some riper and
heaven-ized existence, and that their indul-
gence is but enhanced in pleasurable degree
Here there is attraction — affinity — but it is of
the souL"

Disembodied. — " Then there is no Love here !
I mean the feeling peculiar to the sexes."

Houri. — " Yes. But there is no material de-
sire. The sexes are essentially complements of
each other ; but these complements may differ
in their substance and proportions. When
they are counterparts of each other, then affini-
ty is perfect This affinity is heavenly Love
and unalloyed happiness. Such a pair are tho

The Dream-God. 39

Bride and Bridegroom of Eternity. Their
children are the heavenly thoughts which spring
from such affinity."

The startled brain of the visionist caused
him to awake into his dream, and he saw his
Immortal companion bending over him with
a smile.

PART IV.

The dream changes ; the voyageurs are fly-
ing over Greece. This small bnt wondrous
nation, so remarkable in the annals of mankind,
and so full of historic and classic associations,
was seen by them as in one view of its ancient
and modern times, and of its geographic and
art attractions under the illumination of genius
and heroism, or in the twilight of mental and
moral decadence.

The Immortal remarked, as it faded in the
rear from their sight, " This favored land,
emerging as it is, again, from the contact and
influence of barbarism and moral depression,
and with the native talents and sprightliness
of its race, throwing off their frivolity and
supineness, under the stimulating agencies of
civilization now in contact with it, is once
more destined to appropriate distinction."

American. — "And yonder is Venice! Its
romance has ever excited and interested my
imagination."

The Dream- God. 41

Immortal. — " Its history has been like a
meteor ; but in more ways than one : it has
dashed into obscurity ! It may be of con-
tinued interest as a locality and a city, but it
can never, again, be a power."

Italia ! Oh, Italia ! with what emotions,
evolved from considerations of the present as
of the past, they approach thee ! In a south-
erly sweep they note the position of the an-
cient Brundusium, and gaze upon Vesuvius,
Pompeii and Naples. They move up the
course of the " yellow Tiber," and at last, they
hover over the " Eternal City." They descend
into Rome ! traverse its streets, visit its famed
places and sanctuaries, examine its ruins, think
of its noted dead, observe its new features and
present people, and, more than all, ponder upon
the meaning of its history, its situation and its
attitude. It is not within the compass of this
narrative to present the volume of feeling and
thoughts of the sleeper. In the Vatican and
in the fane of St. Peter's, as he did after in St.
Paul's and in London, he ruminated on the re-
ligion of civilization, and on the new specula-
tions of infidel philosophy. In the Coliseum
he reflected upon the impulses and ways of
the populace. In the Forum he analyzed the
systems of law and the subtleties of eloquence.

42 The Dream- God.

In Senate halls he eliminated the science, the
experiments, the elan of statesmanship, in both
State and Church matters. Within the classic
area of the Seven Hills, Man had exhibited
every phase of his nature, inclination and
power. Here Humanity had been borne upon
every wave of destiny, and had travelled upon
every highway and byway of fate, on earth.
Rome is the epitome of the world's Past. Its
mission is ended.

Moving northward the aerialists glance upon
Pisa, Florence, Milan and Mantua, the Po and
the Adige. To gratify the curiosity of the
American, they divert and descend to the
point where the Rubicon was passed, and he
thinks of Cesar, and of all the so-called Cesars,
down to the last Czar and Kaiser. They visit,
also, the plain of Marengo, which assured in
power and prestige the true successor to Cesar,
as he had been to Alexander — the third that
made a trio of the world's mental and imperial
masters.

Inasmuch as the travellers were threading
the animate gallery of the world, they gave
but a glance at the art galleries of Italy.
What was a marble Venus or Apollo — what
was a painting of the Transfiguration or of a
Madonna — what was the tower of Pisa or the

The Dream- God. 43

cathedral of Milan, in comparison with what
they had seen !

Immortal. — " Italy is still nearer to national
regeneration, power and influence than Greece.
The full power of modern enlightenment will
ere long be felt there."

American. — "The names of Cavour and
Mazzini are already enrolled on the true roll
of fame. And, too, the biographies of Kienzi
and Lorenzo the Magnificent are peculiarly
attractive."

This was said as they were observing the
beauties of lakes Garda and Como. From
thence they . bent their pinions for Vienna.
They circled it to view the fields made mem-
orable by Sobieski and Napoleon. They
enter it ; and a cold and silvery twilight
seemed to prevail as if its most consummate
imperialism and refinement preferred the
blinded and curtained salons of governmental
and social civilization. In such palatial halls
were its Court ; and there the finesse of closet
and boudoir intrigue had attained to its most
exquisite development in this epoch. And the
decorated white cloth coats of its costume de-
lighted the eyes, but were significant of hypoc-
risy to the brain, of the American. Winged
as he was, and probably because of it, he

44 The Dream- God.

found temptations addressed to both his head
and heart. It was there thought that even
angels could be corrupted " on earth as in
heaven."

They seek the purer air of Switzerland and
the Alps. They " did " Mont Blanc and the
Simplon, slid upon an avalanche, looked
upon Geneva and its lake, and thought of Tell,
the Cantons, and Calvin. They next seat
themselves in human style on the deck of a
steamer, and make the trip of the ever disput-
able and picturesque Rhine. They dash off
on wing to Brussels, and imagining they hear
the il sounds of revelry by night" and " the
cannon's opening roar," they ponder on Water-
loo.

American. — "Now for the dear old cliffs of
Albion. Oh, Great Britain and Ireland, land
of my fathers, let me see thee ! Stretching
their wings in full sympathy and in joyous
flight across the Channel, they scan with lov-
ing and careful eye England, Scotland and
Ireland. They take in their all and every
part and place ; and terminate their British
tour in London. Everything indicated genu-
ine maturity and stability. Both the material
and spiritual developments proclaim solid sense
and judicious cultivation. It is the only conn-

The Dream- God. 45

try in which the Past and Present seem to
blend and harmonize.

There is a Royal levee at St. James palace,
and there all appear royal. The British no-
bility and gentry! what a superb body of
men and women ! What glorious types of the
mental and physical — what exemplars of edu-
cation and refinement, character and tone ! It
is in Great Britain that industry, honesty and
intellect have acquired gold; and gold has
not debased but elevated humanity — has not
disintegrated but cemented the social elements.

They were graciously received by Majesty;
and they congratulated the Queen, not as
sovereign, but as the royal representative of
such a nation. Her peers, with calm satisfac-
tion and cordial dignity, exclaimed, " That the
just appreciation of the British people by
native white Americans, involved the highest
compliment to both."

The Lord Maygr took them in charge,
visited with them the notable places and build-
ings of London, and a l'Anglaise, entertained
them at a banquet. On the occasion the
Premier, who was a guest, remarked in his
speech : " Great Britain, at last, although a
monarchy in name and form, is a republic in
fact. Its government combines the more of

46 The Bream-God.

the advantages and the less of the disadvan-
tages of the one-man power and of the many-
power, than that of any other nation does.
Hence it is, that the rights of the citizen equal
those of even America, and are more practical-
ly protected and left in undisturbed satisfac-
tion, politically and socially, than in any coun-
try in the world. There is more nominal but
less real personal liberty in the United States
than in England. Yet in these regards it is
the just and proud boast and boon of these
two nations, that their peoples alone can be
called free."

American. — " Is it because popular opinion
in America is a tyrant toward each individual,
that Great Britain has the advantage in prac-
tical, if not theoretical liberty V

Immortal. — " Yes. Settled law and not fluc-
tuating opinion should govern and protect."*

The good-byes are genial. While crossing
the Straits of Dover for the. Continent, the Im-
mortal said with emphasis :

" The Anglo-Saxons everywhere furnish the
best wives and mothers of your globe."

La Belle France ! Inimitable Paris ! what a
medley of expectations attends upon visiting
these centres of travel. They run the gamut
of pleasure from the exhilarating boards of the

The Bream-God. 47

" lirfit fantastic toe," to the arenas where learn-
ing and skill walk in solemn mental pomp,
and genius essays its wings for loftier flights
from the heights of knowledge. There the
heart vibrates from all the phases of frivolity,
through the glows of vanity, love and ambi-
tion, to the glamours of suicide.

They proceed to Versailles, and indulge in
mocking criticisms upon its costly and useless
structures and empirical history.

They surveyed with care, Paris and its en-
virons. They thought of it as a communistic
volcano or as the cradle of revolutions.

Immortal. — " Blessed is the person or nation,
who has a Faith, however crude ! But, in
truth, the French have no faith of any stable
or guiding kind. Nor do they permit them-
selves to be either calm enough to study or
rational enough to understand the mission of
Reason. They do not truly apply it to either re-
ligion or government. Their women are prac-
tically wiser than their men ; in their domain
of society the former have instituted a system
of mere life. Both have some tangible notions
on the art of living on earth. Neither think
very coherently on the Beyond. Natural (not
mental) Philosophy, in all its branches, is their
most successful sphere. Their German rivals

48 • The Bream-God.

surpass them in mental speculations and innoc-
uous transcendentalisms."

They enter the Tuileries. The Emperor of
the French expressed his keen appreciation of
the objects of their grand and adventurous
tour. With respectful earnestness he asked
many questions in regard to it ; especially in
relation to political developments. In reply
to a question by the American in reference to
the assumptions of his own dynasty, he assev-
erated that it was a Napoleonic conception,
maxim and design, " that the virtues and rights
of the people could and should be asserted un-
der the one-man representative power — that
Imperialism and Republicanism could be iden-
ticalized in and under governmental action.
That no other kind of government either
suited or would satisfy the French. And that
he ever studied Great Britain and the United
States as among the leading examples before
him, in devising the measures of his action
and the formulas of his policy."

He, also, assigned this as a reason why he
and his uncle had not been favored by the
old imperial or royal regimes. His Empress,
the lovely Eugenie, was marked in her gra-
cious deference, and uttered some angelic sen-
timents in support of her husband's theory.

The Dream- God. 49

At Court the ethereal party received the at-
tentions of the savans of the world's scientific
metropolis, and with them visited their meeting.
Abstruse topics were discussed- In reply to
an inquiry upon electricity, the Immortal in-
timated "that, although it was not his prov-
ince to discuss the connection between mind
and matter, or to expound what agency mag-
netism had in relation to it, yet as the brain
and body of man were a series of electric bat-
teries, and electricity a fluid that pervaded the
earth, it would in time, by an effort of the will,
and by an action of the human body under
and in certain conditions, become a medium of
thought and converse between any two per-
sons at different spots on the earth."

American. — " Will they hold conversations
as if in a tete-a-t^te V

Immortal. — " Yes. Without using language,
Americans will thus converse with Chinese."

They visited in the Invalides the Tomb of
Napoleon le Grand. Before it the American
was irresistibly affected by the awe, wonder
and curiosity, which may be felt for the majes-
ty of mind.

The travellers now proceed to Bordeaux;
where, seated in a salon, and the American be-
ing thirsty, the best brandy and claret are set

50 The Dream- God.

before them. They taste them with relish,
and discuss their merits.

Suddenly the Disembodied exclaims, " Day
is approaching, I must return to my body.
Let us fly."

They once more essay the aerial passage of
the Atlantic. At the instance of the Spirit of
Morphine, who suggested that they had time
for a swoop to south of the Equator, and for
a view of the constellation of the Southern
Cross, the American, who affected astronomy,
readily assented. They whirl southward, see
it, and repass " the Line." They enter the
United States at Savannah, and soon reach the
abode of the sleeper in the upper part of South
Carolina. His spirit enters his chamber through
the window and glides into his body, when he
experiences a sense of relief as to its safety,
and of satisfaction in his wondrous trip. He
nestles in comfort of thought and matter, and
— awakes !

The day has dawned, and soon the rays of
the rising sun greet his mortal eyes. During
that day he spoke of the dream, and was pale
and excited. This dream occurred in the early
part of January, 1868, and lasted between nine
and ten hours.

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